Happy Fourth of July
by rippling0water0eyes
Summary: No real summary, sorry. Happy Independence Day! SoraxKairi


I sat there, smiling aimlessly, even though I had no reason to smile. We had been together for as long as I can remember. Childhood friends. I always had a special place for him, not only on the bus, but in my heart. He was special to me, even when he was with other girls. There was never a moment I didn't think of him as... more than a friend. And there was never a moment I wished for anything else. Until, finally, it actually happened. I still remember how, too.

"_Kairi... there's something... that I've wanted to ask you for a while... but... I've been afraid of what you'll say..."_

"_Huh? Come on, you can tell me anything."_

"_Okay... but..." He shut his eyes tight and took hold of my shoulders. I didn't really know what was happening, but before I could even realize, his lips had met mine. When he pulled away... "I'm sorry!" Then he ran away. I called him later, but he wouldn't pick up. I couldn't stop thinking about it, what it meant, what he wanted to ask me... He came by my house later, but when I came to the door, he turned away._

"_Sor–"_

"_Kairi," His voice was steady. "I'm sorry about earlier. I... got carried away."_

"_With what?"_

"_Trying to ask you my question."_

"_Sora, just ask it. I don't mind earlier."_

_He turned around, his shining blue eyes meeting mine, and inhaled deeply. "Will you go out with me?" Exactly how I wished for it._

But that was a long time ago. Almost three years. And in that time, we had only had one real argument, and it wasn't that real...

"_It was two years ago." He said, snuffly._

"_Well, everyone knew we were..." I made quotes in the air. "Unofficial for way longer."_

_His face turned pink. "I didn't have ANY feelings for you until I asked you out!"_

_What a child. "Sora! That wasn't the first time you kissed me, remember?"_

_Even pinker. "Third grade doesn't count! I was trying to break your fall!"_

"_With your lips?"_

"_Kairi!"_

I still sat there, still smiling. And even still, I probably shouldn't have been. Because it had actually happened, the one thing I didn't want in our relationship. The one thing I didn't expect for our relationship. The one thing I never thought would come. The one thing... the end. This would be our first holiday apart, too. I thought back to yesterday. Nothing was going wrong. Everything seemed perfect.

"_Kairi, I... need to tell you something."_

"_Anything."_

"_Anything?"_

"_Anything."_

_He inhaled deeply, but diverted his attention, insisting he would tell me later. The whole day passed slowly, I was constantly prying at him, thinking of it... a sort of game. It wasn't like Sora to hide something from me. He kept telling me I would hear it later. Later, later, later. But I didn't think it would ever come. There was a parade that night, the third, and it was right before the fireworks, I asked him one more time._

"_Sora, please? I really want to know!"_

_He didn't look at me. "Kairi, I..." He closed his eyes and I couldn't read his expression. "I'm sorry. I... can't do this anymore." I swallowed hard, the idiotic smile still plastered on my face. This was what I had been urging him to tell me? I was rushing him to our breakup? I didn't understand what I had done._

"_Why?"_

"_I can't explain it. I'm sorry." He turned his attention to the people in the crowds, gathering for the fireworks. His cheeks were pink, and his eyes were, too._

_I just couldn't think of why he would want this to happen. My smile finally faded and tears welled in my eyes. "Sora, I–" He turned away. I was sad, but angry because he shouldn't have had a reason. I shut my eyes and yelled that I hated him, although it was the furthest thing from my mind. His shoulders tightened, and his head fell. It hurt him. But he hurt me. Now we were even right? No. We couldn't have been, because saying that hurt me so much more. I turned and started to run, my foot splashing in a puddle as I took off. I ran for the longest time, and when I finally turned back, I couldn't make out his shape anymore, all I saw was the last firework, a heart, slowly fading into the night sky._

That was how I felt then, and still, my heart hadn't completely faded. I didn't hate Sora. I couldn't. I didn't even like him. I loved him. I knew the day I met him, I knew the night it ended, and I knew now. Nothing that could ever happen would change that, but I didn't think I'd ever be given the chance to let him know.

My smile, still there. Dishonest, but encouraging. He was always the reason for my smile, and he was gone, shouldn't it be? It gave me hope though. That even if it was fake, if I could still smile, he had to come back.

"Kairi?" It was a voice from behind, that I knew too well. I didn't turn, or respond, the only movement was the smile slowly slipping out of my grasp. He sat next to me. "Kairi," I didn't move. "I know you probably hate me..." He paused. "Well, you _told _me that you hated me... but can we still be friends?"

I looked at him almost in shock. "Are you kidding?" I was mad. It hurt me that he could rip my heart out, break it in half, and then try to stick it up with a band-aid and put it back to normal. Things didn't work like that. He sighed.

"I'm sorry. I can't... imagine us not being together." He scooted a little closer, but I moved away.

"If you wanted us to be together then why did you break up with me?"

"I didn't want to." He said it loudly, then sighed and put his head in his hands. "I'm sorry, Kairi. I know I hurt you. I just didn't know what to do."

"What are you talking about?"

"I set up this whole big thing... with the fireworks at the park. The last thing set off was a heart."

"Yeah?"

"I guess you didn't see it did you?"

"See... what?"

He sighed again. "The heart, I mean."

"I saw it."

"But you couldn't hear?"

"Sora, you aren't making sense. Why would I need to hear the fireworks?"

"Not the fireworks, Kairi. The band." he completely refused to look at me. "They were supposed to announce a technical delay."

"I don't get it."

"That the last fireworks hadn't been triggered properly."

"But the last firework in that parade is always a heart. Everybody knows that."

"Yeah, I know. That's what made it so hard to arrange." I looked at him strangely, but he didn't see. His eyes were still downcast. "They made an announcement, that in a few minutes, they would set off the last fireworks, but until then, they would play some music." I didn't quite follow where this was headed. "They were gonna play our song, and I was gonna tell you what I needed to say."

"You set all that up to break up with me?" Now I was past mad.

"No." His tone calmed my anger. I didn't understand. "I set all that up," He looked up at me. "To say I love you." My expression changed, and even I wasn't quite sure what it was. There wasn't one emotion that could express the way I felt. "After our song was over, and I said I loved you, the last fireworks were gonna go off. It was supposed to be a pink heart, your favorite color, and say Kairi right after. So you would get the last firework in the parade. Because that's what you told me on our first date to go see them. You wanted the last firework, and I gave it to you."

"Sora... why would you break up with me if you wanted to say... you know..."

"That's why. I knew you probably didn't feel the way about me, that I felt about you, and I got scared. I didn't want to have to hurt you, but I knew you'd run away, and I couldn't set that off if you didn't love me."

I turned my eyes down. "That's stupid."

"How?"

"How could you ever think... that I didn't love you?"

He was taken aback. "I... didn't..."

"I couldn't ever tell you, but I didn't just give it all up. Even when you broke up with me, and even when I was screaming I hate you and all... I loved you." I felt his arms around my shoulder, and he kissed my forehead.

"So then, I guess we should get back together, huh?"

I laughed. "Yeah, I guess."

"All right, well then," He helped me up, and kissed me.

"Sora!" I yelled.

"What?"

"Kissing on a first date?"

He smiled. "It's not the first time, remember?" I smiled, too. "Happy Fourth of July, Kairi."

"Happy Fourth of July."


End file.
